The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Saint Benedict’s Monastery/Saint Benedict Hall

Click on image titles for larger views.

Institution Name: College of Saint Benedict
Original/Historic Place Name: Saint Benedict Hall
Location on Campus: Chapel Ln.
Date(s) of Construction:

1883	addition perpendicular to the north gable of Saint Cecilia Steil, Gregory

Designer: Gregory Steil
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Romanesque revival, Victorian (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, culture, education, engineering, history, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone, granite

Walls: brick, wood

Roof: asphalt

Function:

1883-present (2006)

residence hall (monastery residence)

Narrative:
Rectangular in plan, St. Benedict Hall was added perpendicular to the north gable of St. Cecilia Hall in 1883, projecting behind it and forming an "L" plan. Also 2 ½ stories high on a raised foundation, the five bay façade is dominated by a projecting three-story tower which has a mansard roof and matching gable dormers to the east and west. The fenestration of the west-facing extension is identical to St. Cecilia Hall.
--From National Register Report, "St. Benedict's Convent and College Historic District" (1989).

References:

Blegen, Theodore C. Minnesota: A History of the State. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1975.

Koop, Michael. St. Benedict's Convent and College Historic District [College of Saint Benedict]. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1989.

McDonald, Grace. "A Finishing School of the 1880s: Saint Benedict's Academy." Minnesota History 27, no. 2 (1946): 96-106.

McDonald, Grace. "Pioneer Teachers: The Benedictine Sisters at Saint Cloud." Minnesota History 35, no. 6 (June 1957): 263-71.

McDonald, Grace. With Lamps Burning. Saint Joseph, MN: Saint Benedict's Priory Press, 1957.

Mitchell, William B. History of Stearns County Minnesota. Vol. 1. Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr. and Co., 1915.